Posted on 04/08/2004 9:36:25 PM PDT by Utah Girl
Condoleezza Rice sat alone at the red-draped table looking as she always does - poised and perfectly coiffed, self-assured but without swagger.
A few feet behind her were the families of some of the 3,000 people killed on Sept. 11, 2001. In front, staring down, were 10 commission members trying to determine why those people died and whether President Bush or Rice, his national security adviser, could have prevented the attacks.
For weeks the White House had been refusing to allow Rice to do this: To sit in public, under oath, available to answer any questions commission members chose to ask with the testimony broadcast live on every network.
But from the moment she was sworn in Thursday until the session ended three hours later, Rice proved unshakable, undaunted, jousting with Democratic commission members who took her on, graciously accepting aid and comfort from Republicans on the panel.
Rice didn't appear before the panel just to fill gaps in the commission's understanding of the terrorist attacks. Her main mission was to bolster Bush's credentials as commander in chief and to defend the war on terrorism to which he has committed America - his top arguments for re-election this fall.
On this day, in this room, Rice assigned no blame for the attacks. Nor did she accept any. There was no "silver bullet" that could have stopped the attacks, she said, despite the claims by the commission's chairman, Thomas Kean, and vice chairman, Lee Hamilton, that the attacks were preventable.
When commission members wanted concise, black-and-white answers, Rice responded with rainbows. "Don't filibuster me. It's not fair," former Sen. Bob Kerrey, a commission member, railed at one point. But Rice rolled on.
"Commissioner, I'm here to answer questions," she said evenly. "And you've asked me a question."
Rice's hallmark poise under fire was a major reason Republicans were pressuring Bush to let her testify even while he was complaining that doing so violated the constitutional separation between the executive and legislative branches of government. Her command of the issues - rehearsed in recent days with staff - and deep familiarity with the rules of engagement in official Washington made her a formidable target for anyone who sought to discredit White House policy or Bush.
Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University, said that none of Bush's advisers was better suited to handle the sometimes aggressive questioning.
"She's smart, but not an overbearing intellectual. She seemed very patient in her responses," Baker said. "She made a case that nothing that came through pointed so conclusively to the kind of attack it would be and certainly not when it would take place."
As an African-American woman, Rice is also a nontraditional spokeswoman for a Republican administration. She reminded the commissioners of this Thursday - as she has said in previous speeches - "You know, when our Founding Fathers said, `We the people,' they didn't mean me."
But panel members were not shy about challenging Rice.
She claimed that FBI field offices had been called to battle stations in the summer of 2001 as intelligence "chatter" about an attack increased. The field offices said they hadn't, commissioner Jamie Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general, informed her.
And the Aug. 6, 2001, CIA briefing that Rice said did not warn Bush about a possible al-Qaida attack inside the United States was, Rice was forced to acknowledge, titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States."
But Rice came ready to dish it out as well.
Kerrey drew audience applause when he scolded Rice about military operations in Iraq being "dangerously off track" and then pressed her on why Bush used military might against Iraq but did not retaliate for the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. Rice's response was prompt and pointed.
"I'm aware, Mr. Kerrey, of a speech that you gave at that time that said that perhaps the best thing that we could do to respond to the Cole and to the memories was to do something about the threat of Saddam Hussein," Rice said, drawing applause of her own.
"Quite frankly, I was blown away when I read the speech because it's a brilliant speech," she added with a smile.
To the chagrin of some victims' families, Rice offered no apology for the events of Sept. 11. Richard Clarke, a former aide to Rice and Bush who accused them of failing to pay adequate attention to al-Qaida before the attacks, had won over many family members by offering an apology when he appeared before the commission on March 24.
Several Democratic commission members pressed Rice on why the administration has failed to acknowledge mistakes it may have made or to demonstrate accountability by firing those responsible for domestic security.
"You could have come in there if you said, `Look, we screwed up. We made a lot of mistakes.' And you obviously don't want to use the `M' word in here," said Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska.
Commissioner and former Rep. Tim Roemer, a Democrat from Indiana, questioned whether "there should have been a resignation or two."
Bush, vacationing at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, watched Rice's testimony on television, an aide said, then called Rice from his pickup truck to congratulate her for doing a "great job."
Many Democrats disagreed with his assessment.
"Dr. Rice's public testimony did not resolve the many contradictions between various accounts of what actions the Bush administration took in response to the threat of terrorism prior to 9-11," said Sen. Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat and former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry did not join in the criticism. At a campaign stop in Milwaukee, the Massachusetts senator sidestepped questions about Rice's testimony.
"I'm not going to comment on the 9-11 commission. I wasn't there. I haven't heard all the testimony," Kerry said.
Republicans, meanwhile, convened a press conference on Capitol Hill shortly after Rice's testimony and praised her performance.
"She painted the picture of an administration that not only was concerned about this national security threat but also had a great deal else on its plate," said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
For all the buildup, John Orman, a professor of political science at Fairfield University in Connecticut, said he didn't believe the event would linger long in the minds of most voters.
"Most Americans have a two- or three-day attention span," he said.
(Iraq) What Would Kerry Do As President? Senator Doesn't Always Answer
"Right now, what I would do differently is, I mean, look, I'm not the president, and I didn't create this mess so I don't want to acknowledge a mistake that I haven't made."
"I'm not the president" and with that type of response, you never WILL be.
Professor Orman has an excellent insight on the Sheeple.
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